The Pan-STARRS comet as seen from Mount Dale, Australia. (Photo by Astronomy Education Services/Gingin Observatory)

Sky gazers can catch a glimpse of the comet Pan-STARRS as it treks across the night sky during a free public viewing at 7:30 p.m. on March 16 at the Richard D. Schwartz Observatory at the University of Missouri–St. Louis.

According to NASA, the comet will appear as a bright point of light with its diffuse tail pointing nearly straight up from the horizon like an exclamation point. The viewing also offers the opportunity to spot Jupiter, Orion Nebula and Pleiades.

The Schwartz Observatory offers a monthly open house in the evenings from March through November. All open houses include a viewing of the first quarter moon, along with additional nebulae and galaxies. The viewings are free and open to the public.

The sessions are presented by the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UMSL, and sponsored in part by the NASA Space Grant Consortium.

For directions and information about the observatory visit http://www.umsl.edu/~physics/astro/.

2013 Observatory Open House Schedule

March 16, 7:30 p.m. – Jupiter, Orion Nebula, Pleiades, Comet Pan-STARRS

April 20, 8:30 p.m. – Jupiter, Saturn, M3 Globular Cluster, Beehive Cluster Astronomy Day!  

May 18, 8:30 p.m. – Jupiter, Saturn, Hercules Cluster, Beehive Cluster

June 15, 9 p.m. – Saturn, Hercules Cluster, Albireo, Ring Nebula

July 13, 8:30 p.m. – Saturn, Venus, Hercules Cluster, Ring Nebula, Albireo

Aug. 17, 8:30 p.m. – Saturn, Venus, Hercules Cluster, Ring Nebula, Albireo

Sept. 14, 7:30 p.m. – Saturn, Venus, Ring Nebula, Albireo, Andromeda Galaxy

Oct. 12-13, 7 p.m. – Venus, Uranus, Ring Nebula, Albireo, Andromeda Galaxy Astronomy Day!

Nov. 9, 6 p.m. – Venus, Uranus, Ring Nebula, Albireo, Andromeda Galaxy